Bill writes:
Did I mention I got a Tecsun PL-398BT?
As far as I can tell it performs to the same standards as the EXCELLENT Tecsun PL-390. The differences are:
Comes with case, patch cord, and headphones. The wire antenna that earlier radios had is not included, but a Sangean reel-type antenna I had around works fine.
The controls are slightly different. Notably, it has several extra buttons compared to the 390, such as separate buttons for alarm controls, scan or manual tuning, key lock, and a "light/snooze" bar about two inches long on the top of the radio. Also, the keys light up when the dial backlight goes on. I don't remember the PL-390 doing that.
The 398BT is slightly thicker than the 390.
Hallelujah! The antenna can be extended straight up when the radio is propped up on its built-in tilt stand. This is because unlike the 390, the 398's antenna base, below the swivel point, can be pulled up out of the back of the radio by about a quarter of an inch. The radio, helpfully, has "Pull Up" printed on the back of the radio, with a little arrow pointing to the base of the antenna.
And, of course, it streams audio from a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other Bluetooth-equipped device that has audio capability. You can still use the patch cord to stream from a headphone jack on a music player to the line in on the PL-398BT, but hey, wireless streaming has to be good for 15 Geek Points, maybe 20. It's really handy and it works well.
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